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The inapproximability for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems lies in the heart of theoretical computer science. A negative result can be either conditional, where the starting point is a complexity assumption, or unconditional, where the inapproximability holds for a restricted model of computation. Algorithms based on Linear Programming (LP) and Semidefinite Programming (SDP) relaxations are among the most prominent models of computation. The related and common measure of efficiency is the integrality gap, which sets the limitations of the associated algorithmic schemes. A number of systematic procedures, known as lift-and-project systems, have been proposed to improve the integrality gap of standard relaxations. These systems build strong hierarchies of either LP relaxations, such as the Lovasz-Schrijver (LS) and the Sherali-Adams (SA) systems, or SDP relaxations, such as the Lovasz-Schrijver SDP (LS+), the Sherali-Adams SDP (SA+) and the Lasserre (La) systems. In this thesis we prove integrality gap lower bounds for the aforementioned lift-and-project systems and for a number of combinatorial optimization problems, whose inapproximability is yet unresolved. Given that lift-and-project systems produce relaxations that have given the best algorithms known for a series of combinatorial problems, the lower bounds can be read as strong evidence of the inapproximability of the corresponding optimization problems. From the results found in the thesis we highlight the following: For every epsilon>0, the level-Omega(sqrt(log n/ log log n)) LS+ relaxation of the Vertex Cover polytope has integrality gap 2-epsilon. The integrality gap of the standard SDP for Vertex Cover remains 2-o(1) even if all hypermetric inequalities are added to the relaxation. The resulting relaxations are incomparable to the SDP relaxations derived by the LS+ system. Finally, the addition of all ell1 inequalities eliminates all solutions not in the integral hull. For every epsilon>0, the level-Omega(sqrt(log n/ log log n)) SA relaxation of Vertex Cover has integrality gap 2-epsilon. The integrality gap remains tight even for superconstant-level SA+ relaxations. We prove a tight lower bound for the number of tightenings that the SA system needs in order to prove the Pigeonhole Principle. We also prove sublinear and linear rank bounds for the La and SA systems respectively for the Tseitin tautology. Linear levels of the SA+ system treat highly unsatisfiable instances of fixed predicate-P constraint satisfaction problems over q-ary alphabets as fully satisfiable, when the satisfying assignments of the predicates P can be equipped with a balanced and pairwise independent distribution. We study the performance of the Lasserre system on the cut polytope. When the input is the complete graph on 2d+1 vertices, we show that the integrality gap is at least 1+1/(4d(d+1)) for the level-d SDP relaxation.

This thesis deals with optimizing extremal eigenvalues of weighted graph Laplacian matrices. In general, the Laplacian matrix of a (weighted) graph is of particular importance in spectral graph theory and combinatorial optimization (e.g., graph partition like max-cut and graph bipartition). Especially the pioneering work of M. Fiedler investigates extremal eigenvalues of weighted graph Laplacians and provides close connections to the node- and edge-connectivity of a graph. Motivated by Fiedler, Göring et al. were interested in further connections between structural properties of the graph and the eigenspace of the second smallest eigenvalue of weighted graph Laplacians using a semidefinite optimization approach. By redistributing the edge weights of a graph, the following three optimization problems are studied in this thesis: maximizing the second smallest eigenvalue (based on the mentioned work of Göring et al.), minimizing the maximum eigenvalue and minimizing the difference of maximum and second smallest eigenvalue of the weighted Laplacian. In all three problems a semidefinite optimization formulation allows to interpret the corresponding semidefinite dual as a graph realization problem. That is, to each node of the graph a vector in the Euclidean space is assigned, fulfilling some constraints depending on the considered problem. Optimal realizations are investigated and connections to the eigenspaces of corresponding optimized eigenvalues are established. Furthermore, optimal realizations are closely linked to the separator structure of the graph. Depending on this structure, on the one hand folding properties of optimal realizations are characterized and on the other hand the existence of optimal realizations of bounded dimension is proven. The general bounds depend on the tree-width of the graph. In the case of minimizing the maximum eigenvalue, an important family of graphs are bipartite graphs, as an optimal one-dimensional realization may be constructed. Taking the symmetry of the graph into account, a particular optimal edge weighting exists. Considering the coupled problem, i.e., minimizing the difference of maximum and second smallest eigenvalue and the single problems, i.e., minimizing the maximum and maximizing the second smallest eigenvalue, connections between the feasible (optimal) sets are established.

The inapproximability for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems lies in the heart of theoretical computer science. A negative result can be either conditional, where the starting point is a complexity assumption, or unconditional, where the inapproximability holds for a restricted model of computation. Algorithms based on Linear Programming (LP) and Semidefinite Programming (SDP) relaxations are among the most prominent models of computation. The related and common measure of efficiency is the integrality gap, which sets the limitations of the associated algorithmic schemes. A number of systematic procedures, known as lift-and-project systems, have been proposed to improve the integrality gap of standard relaxations. These systems build strong hierarchies of either LP relaxations, such as the Lovasz-Schrijver (LS) and the Sherali-Adams (SA) systems, or SDP relaxations, such as the Lovasz-Schrijver SDP (LS+), the Sherali-Adams SDP (SA+) and the Lasserre (La) systems. In this thesis we prove integrality gap lower bounds for the aforementioned lift-and-project systems and for a number of combinatorial optimization problems, whose inapproximability is yet unresolved. Given that lift-and-project systems produce relaxations that have given the best algorithms known for a series of combinatorial problems, the lower bounds can be read as strong evidence of the inapproximability of the corresponding optimization problems. From the results found in the thesis we highlight the following: For every epsilon>0, the level-Omega(sqrt(log n/ log log n)) LS+ relaxation of the Vertex Cover polytope has integrality gap 2-epsilon. The integrality gap of the standard SDP for Vertex Cover remains 2-o(1) even if all hypermetric inequalities are added to the relaxation. The resulting relaxations are incomparable to the SDP relaxations derived by the LS+ system. Finally, the addition of all ell1 inequalities eliminates all solutions not in the integral hull. For every epsilon>0, the level-Omega(sqrt(log n/ log log n)) SA relaxation of Vertex Cover has integrality gap 2-epsilon. The integrality gap remains tight even for superconstant-level SA+ relaxations. We prove a tight lower bound for the number of tightenings that the SA system needs in order to prove the Pigeonhole Principle. We also prove sublinear and linear rank bounds for the La and SA systems respectively for the Tseitin tautology. Linear levels of the SA+ system treat highly unsatisfiable instances of fixed predicate-P constraint satisfaction problems over q-ary alphabets as fully satisfiable, when the satisfying assignments of the predicates P can be equipped with a balanced and pairwise independent distribution. We study the performance of the Lasserre system on the cut polytope. When the input is the complete graph on 2d+1 vertices, we show that the integrality gap is at least 1+1/(4d(d+1)) for the level-d SDP relaxation.

Les robots flexibles sont de plus en plus utilisés dans les applications pratiques. Ces robots sont caractérisés par une conception mécanique légère, réduisant ainsi leur encombrement, leur consommation d’énergie et améliorant leur sécurité. Cependant, la présence de vibrations transitoires rend difficile un contrôle précis de la trajectoire de ces systèmes. Cette thèse est précisément consacrée à l’asservissement en position des manipulateurs flexibles dans les espaces articulaire et opérationnel. Des méthodes de commande avancées, basées sur des outils de la commande robuste et de l’optimisation convexe, ont été proposées. Ces méthodes font en particulier appel à la théorie des systèmes linéaires à paramètres variants (LPV) et aux inégalités matricielles linéaires (LMI). En comparaison avec des lois de commande non-linéaires disponibles dans la littérature, les lois de commande LPV proposées permettent de considérerdes contraintes de performance et de robustesse de manière simple et systématique. L’accent est porté dans notre travail sur la gestion appropriée de la dépendance paramétrique du modèle LPV, en particulier les dépendances polynomiale et rationnelle. Des simulations numériques effectuées dans des conditions réalistes, ont permis d’observer une meilleure robustesse de la commande LPV par rapport à la commande non-linéaire par inversion de modèle face aux bruits de mesure, aux excitations de haute fréquence et aux incertitudes de modèle. / Flexible robots are becoming more and more common in practical applications. This type of robots is characterized by the use of lightweight materials, which allows reducing their size, their power consumption and improves their safety. However, an accurate trajectory tracking of these systems is difficult to achieve because of the transient vibrations they undergo. This PhD thesis work is particularly devoted to the position control of flexible robotic manipulators at the joint and end-effector levels. Advanced control methods, based on some tools of the robust control theory and convex optimization, have been proposed. These methods are based on the theory of Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) systems and Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI). Compared to some nonlinear control laws available in the literature that involve model inversion, theproposed LPV control laws make it possible to consider performance and robustness constraints in a simple and systematic manner. Our work particularly emphasizes on the appropriate management of the parametric dependence of the LPV model, especially the polynomial and rational dependences. Numerical simulations carried out in realistic operating conditions have shown a better robustness of the LPV control compared to the inversion-based nonlinear control withrespect to measurement noise, high frequency inputs and model uncertainties.

Abstract This thesis considers data transmission in a full-duplex (FD) multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) system, where a FD capable base station (BS) bidirectionally communicates with multiple half-duplex (HD) users in downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) channels using the same radio resources. The main challenge in FD communications is how to deal with the self-interference (SI) between transmit and receive antennas at the BS. The work carried out in the thesis is motivated by recent advanced techniques in hardware design demonstrating that the SI can be suppressed to a degree that possibly allows for FD transmission in cellular networks. In particular, this thesis attempts to explore the potential gains in terms of the spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE) that can be brought by the FD MU-MIMO model. As the first of its kinds, the thesis aims to present a solid mathematical framework and report interesting results that foster research on wireless communications in general and FD communications in particular. For the FD system of interest the major challenge is due to the SI and co-channel interference from users in the UL channel to the ones in the DL channel, resulting in the coupling between the two channels. As a result we are concerned with the problem of joint transmit processing design to maximize the SE and EE subject to certain power constraints. Since the design problems are natually non-convex, it is difficult to find the globally optimal solutions or even when possible it is not practically appealing. Our contributions to solving these design problems are on the development of several iterative algorithms that can obtain locally optimal solutions. The proposed algorithms are built upon a framework of local optimization strategies such as the sequential parametric convex approximation and the Frank-Wolfe methods. In special cases closed-form designs are also presented. The reported results show that when the SI is sufficiently suppressed the considered FD MU-MIMO system with the proposed SE designs achieves a significantly better SE but consumes more energy, compared to the HD counterpart. In terms of EE the proposed EE scheme is superior to the proposed SE design. Moreover, in the low transmit power region, the EE design achieves a worse EE than the HD system but a better one in the high trasmit power regime when the SI power is low. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja käsittelee datansiirtoa samanaikaisesti kaksisuuntaisessa (full-duplex, FD) usean käyttäjän moniantennijärjestelmässä (MU-MIMO), jossa FD-kykyinen tukiasema on yhtä aikaa yhteydessä vuorosuuntaisten (half-duplex, HD) käyttäjien kanssa laskevalla (DL) ja nousevalla (UL) siirtotiellä käyttäen samoja radioresursseja. FD-kommunikaation suurin haaste liittyy lähetys- ja vastaanottoantennien välisen omahäiriön (SI) hallintaan. Tässä työssä hyödynnetään tuoreita tutkimustuloksia, joissa edistyneillä häiriönvaimennustekniikoilla on kyetty vaimentamaan omahäiriö tasolle, jolla FD-lähetys solukkoverkoissa on toteutuskelpoista. Tässä työssä tutkitaan etenkin mahdollisia FD MU-MIMO –järjestelmän tuomia suorituskykyparannuksia spektrinkäytön tehokkuudessa (SE) ja energiatehokkuudessa (EE). Väitöskirjalla on uutuusarvoa matemaattisessa suorituskykyarvioinnissa ja työn mielenkiintoiset tulokset edistävät jatkotutkimusta aiheen ympärillä. Tutkittavan FD-järjestelmän merkittävänä haasteena on omahäiriön ja muiden käyttäjien siirtosuuntien välisen samankanavan häiriön yhteisvaikutus, jonka johdosta siirtosuunnat kytkeytyvät toisiinsa. Tämä johtaa lähetysprosessoinnin yhteisoptimointiin, jossa spektri- ja energiatehokkuus pyritään maksimoimaan määritetyillä tehorajoituksilla. Nämä suunnitteluongelmat eivät ole luonteeltaan konvekseja, joten niihin on vaikeaa löytää globaalisti optimaalisia ratkaisuja ja vaikka onnistuisikin niin ne eivät yleensä ole käytännöllisiä. Työssä esitetään useita iteratiivisia algoritmejä, joilla saavutetaan paikallisesti optimaalisia ratkaisuja. Ehdotetut algoritmit pohjautuvat paikallisten optimointistrategioiden viitekehykseen, jossa käytetään esimerkiksi peräkkäistä parametristä konveksiapproksimaatiota ja Frank-Wolfe –menetelmiä. Erityistapauksissa suljetun muodon ratkaisut on myös esitetty. Raportoidut tulokset osoittavat, että omahäiriön ollessa riittävästi vaimennettu mallinnetulla järjestelmällä saavutetaan spektrinkäytön optimointimielessä huomattavaa etua HD-verrokkiin lisääntyneen energian kulutuksen kustannuksella. Energiatehokkuuden optimointiin pohjautuvalla strategialla puolestaan päästään suurempiin suorituskykyetuihin. Pienillä lähetystehoilla energiatehokkuus voi kuitenkin olla HD-järjestelmää alempi, mutta vastaavasti suurten lähetystehojen alueella tilanne on päinvastainen kunhan omahäiriön teho on tarpeeksi alhainen.

Neste trabalho, realizamos uma extensão da chamada condição Aproximadamente Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (AKKT), inicialmente introduzida em programação não linear [AHM11], para os problemas de otimização sob cones simétricos não linear. Uma condição nova, a qual chamamos Trace AKKT (TAKKT), também foi apresentada para o problema de programação semidefinida não linear. TAKKT se mostrou mais prática que AKKT para programação semidefinida não linear. Provamos que, tanto a condição AKKT como a condição TAKKT são condições de otimalidade. Resultados de convergência global para o método de Lagrangiano aumentado foram obtidos. Condições de qualificação estritas foram introduzidas para medir a força dos resultados de convergência global apresentados. Através destas condições de qualificação estritas, foi pos- sível verificar que nossos resultados de convergência global se mostraram melhores do que os conhecidos na literatura. Também apresentamos uma prova para um caso particular da conjectura feita em [AMS07]. Palavras-chave: condições sequenciais de otimalidade, programação semidefinida não linear, programação sob cones simétricos não linear, condições de qualificação estritas. / In this work, we perform an extension of the so-called Approximate Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (AKKT) condition, initially introduced in nonlinear programming [AHM11], for nonlinear symmetric cone pro- gramming. A new condition, which we call Trace AKKT (TAKKT), was also presented for the nonlinear semidefinite programming problem. TAKKT proved to be more practical than AKKT for nonlinear semi- definite programming. We prove that both the AKKT condition and the TAKKT condition are optimality conditions. Results of global convergence for the augmented Lagrangian method were obtained. Strict qua- lification conditions were introduced to measure the strength of the overall convergence results presented. Through these strict qualification conditions, it was possible to verify that our results of global convergence proved to be better than those known in the literature. We also present a proof for a particular case of the conjecture made in [AMS07].

This thesis deals with optimizing extremal eigenvalues of weighted graph Laplacian matrices. In general, the Laplacian matrix of a (weighted) graph is of particular importance in spectral graph theory and combinatorial optimization (e.g., graph partition like max-cut and graph bipartition). Especially the pioneering work of M. Fiedler investigates extremal eigenvalues of weighted graph Laplacians and provides close connections to the node- and edge-connectivity of a graph. Motivated by Fiedler, Göring et al. were interested in further connections between structural properties of the graph and the eigenspace of the second smallest eigenvalue of weighted graph Laplacians using a semidefinite optimization approach. By redistributing the edge weights of a graph, the following three optimization problems are studied in this thesis: maximizing the second smallest eigenvalue (based on the mentioned work of Göring et al.), minimizing the maximum eigenvalue and minimizing the difference of maximum and second smallest eigenvalue of the weighted Laplacian. In all three problems a semidefinite optimization formulation allows to interpret the corresponding semidefinite dual as a graph realization problem. That is, to each node of the graph a vector in the Euclidean space is assigned, fulfilling some constraints depending on the considered problem. Optimal realizations are investigated and connections to the eigenspaces of corresponding optimized eigenvalues are established. Furthermore, optimal realizations are closely linked to the separator structure of the graph. Depending on this structure, on the one hand folding properties of optimal realizations are characterized and on the other hand the existence of optimal realizations of bounded dimension is proven. The general bounds depend on the tree-width of the graph. In the case of minimizing the maximum eigenvalue, an important family of graphs are bipartite graphs, as an optimal one-dimensional realization may be constructed. Taking the symmetry of the graph into account, a particular optimal edge weighting exists. Considering the coupled problem, i.e., minimizing the difference of maximum and second smallest eigenvalue and the single problems, i.e., minimizing the maximum and maximizing the second smallest eigenvalue, connections between the feasible (optimal) sets are established.

This thesis presents the mixed integer bilevel programming problems where some optimality conditions and solution algorithms are derived. Bilevel programming problems are optimization problems which are partly constrained by another optimization problem. The theoretical part of this dissertation is mainly based on the investigation of optimality conditions of mixed integer bilevel program. Taking into account both approaches (optimistic and pessimistic) which have been developed in the literature to deal with this type of problem, we derive some conditions for the existence of solutions. After that, we are able to discuss local optimality conditions using tools of variational analysis for each different approach. Moreover, bilevel optimization problems with semidefinite programming in the lower level are considered in order to formulate more optimality conditions for the mixed integer bilevel program. We end the thesis by developing some algorithms based on the theory presented

Le déséquilibre d'un sommet dans un graphe orienté est la valeur absolue de la différence entre son degré sortant et son degré entrant. Nous étudions le problème de trouver une orientation des arêtes du graphe telle que l'image du vecteur dont les composantes sont les déséquilibres des sommets par une fonction objectif f est maximisée. Le premier cas considéré est le problème de maximiser le minimum des déséquilibres sur toutes les orientations possibles. Nous caractérisons les graphes dont la valeur objective optimale est nulle. Ensuite nous donnons plusieurs résultats concernant la complexité du problème. Enfin, nous introduisons différentes formulations du problème et présentons quelques résultats numériques. Par la suite, nous montrons que le cas f=1/2 | |·| |₁ mène au célèbre problème de la coupe de cardinalité maximale. Nous introduisons de nouvelles formulations ainsi qu'un nouveau majorant qui domine celui de Goemans et Williamson. Des résultats théoriques et numériques concernant la performance des approches sont présentés. Pour finir, dans le but de renforcer certaines des formulations des problèmes étudiés, nous étudions une famille de polyèdres spécifique consistant en l'enveloppe convexe des matrices d'affectation 0/1 (où chaque colonne contient exactement une composante égale à 1) annexée avec l'indice de leur ligne non-identiquement nulle la plus basse. Nous donnons une description complète de ce polytope ainsi que certaines de ses variantes qui apparaissent naturellement dans le contexte de divers problèmes d'optimisation combinatoire. Nous montrons également que résoudre un programme linéaire sur un tel polytope peut s'effectuer en temps polynomial / The imbalance of a vertex in a directed graph is the absolute value of the difference between its outdegree and indegree. In this thesis we study the problem of orienting the edges of a graph in such a way that the image of the vector which components are the imbalances of the vertices of the graph under an objective function f is maximized. The first case considered is the problem of maximizing the minimum imbalance of all the vertices over all the possible orientations of the input graph. We first characterize graphs for which the optimal objective value is zero. Next we give several results concerning the computational complexity of the problem. Finally, we deal with several mixed integer programming formulations for this problem and present some numerical experiments. Next, we show that the case for f=1/2 | |·| |₁ leads to the famous unweighted maximum cut problem. We introduce some new formulations along with a new bound shown to be tighter than Michel Goemans & David Williamson's. Theoretical and computational results regarding bounds quality and performance are also reported. Finally, in order to strengthen some formulations of the studied problems, we study a specific class of polytopes. Consider the polytope consisting in the convex hull of the 0/1 assignment matrices where each column contains exactly one coefficient equal to 1 appended with their index of the lowest row that is not identically equal to the zero row. We give a full description of this polytope and some of its variants which naturally appear in the context of several combinatorial optimization problems. We also show that linear optimization over those polytopes can be done in polynomial time